Dust and Cinder (Rise of the Dragons Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  Bit by bit, my skin hardened, and started to tingle and burn, as blue and silver scales covered me completely. It felt natural, like a second skin, though not really different from the first. The swords hit against me, and then shattered and broke as they fell to the ground.

  Power surged through me like I’d never felt, and I stood, feeling invincible and unstoppable as hundreds of Pressive Clan members cheered me on.

  Then just like that, the feeling was gone, the shield disappeared, and my knees buckled under me. A hand went around my waist, and I saw it was Arden holding me steady.

  “It always happens like this the first time, after this, it gets a lot easier. You’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered, surprised at his kindness.

  While the others still cheered, Linton walked up and pulled me into a hug. “I never doubted you,” he whispered in my ear. “Not even once.”

  I STOOD IN THE ROOM I’d first met Stax, Erain, and Arden. There were all there, as was Linton. I had a small pack on my back holding all the belongings I’d acquired since coming here, including my three pieces of jewelry.

  I’d already said goodbye to Ren and a few others, so the only ones left were these four. A feeling of sadness rose up in my chest, and I realized I was going to miss them a lot more than I’d originally thought.

  They’d been my rocks while I was here, and each had gone out of their way to make sure I had everything I needed. For that, I couldn’t thank them enough.

  Erain pulled me into a tight hug, smoke coming out of her ears and mouth. “This is a proud day for our clan,” she said. “You do us proud.”

  She stepped back, and Stax pulled me into a bear hug lifting me off the ground. “The other clans are so jealous!” He seemed very pleased about that.

  He put me down, and instead of a hug, Arden threw up a hand. “Remember your clan and who you represent,” he said, and I nodded. I hadn’t been with them long, but already it felt like a family. Clan probably didn’t mean to me, what it meant to them, but it mattered enough, that I wanted to do the Pressive name proud when I went in front of the Dragon lords.

  Linton waited until Stax stepped away before coming closer. He put his hands on either side of my face as his eyes bore into mine. “The whole Pressive Clan stands behind you. You’ll be alright.”

  I nodded, and he kissed the top of my forehead and stepped back.

  I licked my lips. One of my daily practices had been opening a portal to Enol. The place where the Dragon Lords lived. Now that the time was here, I saw that my palms were sweating, and my heart was beating a mile a minute.

  “You can do this,” I heard Erain say from behind me. I took her words, carried them with me, and raised my hand, opening a portal to Enol and stepping inside.

  Chapter 6

  I stepped out of the portal into a large building with guards surrounding me. I’d been told by Linton and the others to expect this, so I immediately dropped to my knees and lowered my head. “I am Alisa, from the clan Pressive. I was summoned here by the three great ones.”

  “Get up,” I heard a gruff voice from my right say. I came to my feet quickly, as fear and nervous energy made my palms wet.

  One man stood in front of the others, with skin a seafoam green and hair the color of fresh basil. Like those around him, he wore a green and yellow guards uniform, yet he was done up with diamonds and rubies.

  His round face was stern, his eyes hard, and I had no problem picturing him as an army drill sergeant.

  “Follow me,” he said, then led me down a long hallway where the floors were made of ice, the ceiling fire, and the walls a mixture of the two.

  My heart beat out of my chest as I trailed behind him wondering what I was in store for. We walked for about ten minutes before we came to a door in the shape of a yellow dragon. He pushed it open and ushered me inside. “Wait here until they call you.” With that, he slammed the door in my face.

  Blinking, I turned around to see Reid standing in front of me, arms folded, brow raised, looking as good as he had the last time I’d seen him.

  My breath hitched at the sight of him, and without thinking, I launched myself into his arms. He laughed as his grip on me tightened, and I placed relieved kisses all over his face. “They told me you were poison,” I said, not knowing why that’d been the first thing to pop out, except it’d been on my mind for the last couple of weeks.

  He put his hands on either side of my face, looking down at me with nothing but adoration. He nudged his nose with mine, and then our lips merged in a soft kiss. His lips tasted both bitter and sweet, and I wondered what he’d had for lunch. “Let’s talk.”

  The room we were in was a complete mixture of fire and ice, from the floors to the walls, to the ceiling. Two couches sat in the room and one settee. One couch was made of fire, the other ice, while the settee was a little of both.

  We sat on the fire couch, and the warm feeling of the flames calmed me even more. His hand stayed rubbing mine, and I leaned over, eager for another kiss. I’d missed him so much, had been so worried about him, and now that he was here in front of me I could barely contain myself.

  We kissed again, then relaxed back into the couch. I drew a leg up under me as I turned to face him. I noticed that like my backpack, he had a red satchel by his feet.

  His eyes roamed over my face in a way that said he too had thought we may never see each other again, as he seemed to be memorizing my every feature. “Did you get inducted into a clan?”

  I thought back to Erain pronouncing that I was indeed Pressive Clan. “Inducted is such a strong word, but yes I am a part of the Pressive Clan. You?”

  He nodded, a look on his face that said he was thinking back to a specific moment. “I am a part of the Regold Clan.” He stopped for a minute letting out a chuckle of disbelief. “They’re very happy that I’m here today.”

  I could relate. I smiled at him and put my hand to his face to caress it. His eyes closed, and he leaned into my touch, putting a soft kiss on the inside of my palm. “I missed you,” he said, voice rugged and low.

  I moved a little closer until I was practically sitting in his lap. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

  He pulled back and looked at me, eyes searching mine. “Were you treated okay?” I could see the tightness in his jaw as he asked the question and I hurried to set his mind at ease.

  “For the most part, yeah.”

  He raised a brow.

  “Okay,” I said, letting out a huff of air. “They did put me in a big circle and throw about a hundred swords at me.”

  His eyes went wide. “What?” The look on his face said he was sure he’d heard me wrong.

  I thought back to that soul-shaking moment and shivered, because the truth was, I’d been terrified, and scared for my life. But, I’d also realized that since being on Cyphen, that’d been the first and only time I hadn’t felt safe and secure. So that mattered as well.

  The Pressive Clan had welcomed me and treated me as one of their own, and that wasn’t something to be overlooked. Growing up as I had, often feeling isolated, them welcoming and making me feel like my voice mattered, touched something deep inside of me.

  “I couldn’t activate my shield,” I said sheepishly, then wondered if he even had one. He didn’t have wings, so...

  Understanding dawned across his face. “Oh, yeah. The shield I got after three days. They had me burn a porter into my arm, and the opening portals thing I got okay, it was the spitting of poison that took longer.”

  I gaped. “So, you spit poison now?”

  He nodded. “Acid and everything.”

  I thought about that, then blew a stream of ice onto my palm, forming it into a ball. “Like this?”

  He looked at it, then his eyes roamed the room taking in the ice on the ceiling, walls, and floors. “Fryd, the dragon I left with, he said the fire and ice mix is to show the dual nature of all those who are dragon born. That we are a part of two worlds. That we can coexist
in two worlds.”

  It made sense, I guessed. I hadn’t really thought about it. “Did you find out why they cut off contact thousands of years ago. Why they’ve allowed everyone to believe them to be dead?”

  Anytime I’d asked anyone that question, they either quickly changed the subject, didn’t answer, or stopped the conversation completely. It got to the point where I figured the subject matter was taboo and stopped asking altogether.

  He laughed and shook his head. “Not something they’re willing to talk about, and I did try.”

  A feeling of warmness spread over me. Just being here with Reid like this talking over our experiences was so familiar that it brought back memories of lazy summer nights where we’d sit on my back porch drinking beer or lemonade and telling each other about our day.

  I missed those times, I realized. Times when it was just he and I sharing our lives and coexisting together. “So, what was it like, being a part of the Regold clan?” I was anxious to hear more about the world Dreed.

  He let out a breath and thought about it. “Lot of fire and ice.” His eyes traveled around the room. “’Bout like this, but also, there was this green gas floating through the air, red too.”

  “Poison?”

  “Yeah, but the Dreeds breathed it as easily as we breathe air from earth. They said that earth has a lot of naturally occurring gasses, the only difference on Dreed is that you can actually see it and draw strength from it.”

  “Wow.” I wondered if that went for all dragons or just those who were poison born.

  His face took on a faraway look, and I let him work through his thoughts. “Other than that, there was a lot of training, getting me ready to come here.” He held up a finger, a small twinkle in his eyes. “I represent the Regold Clan and all of my actions fall back on them.”

  I laughed out loud, marveling at how comfortable and relaxed I always felt with him. “Yeah, I got that too. No one from our clan has been called before the great ones for hundreds of years.”

  He pointed at me and nodded as if to say that he too had been told this. “We ate a lot of food on Dreed,” he mused.

  “Were you given your own room?”

  “A very nice room, with a golden bed and sheets made of satin and silk. I also had my own little treasure room, but only managed to acquire ten items before it was time to go.”

  My eyes widened, and I hit him playfully on the arm. “I have three! Three pieces of treasure. How did you get ten?”

  He shrugged, a look of amusement crossing his face. “We went treasure hunting every day. The first few days I came home empty-handed, but after I got the hang of it...” he waved a hand, a teasing glint in his eye.

  Not able to stop myself, I leaned over and kissed him again.

  We stayed like that for a couple of hours, talking, laughing, and catching up. Snacks were brought into the room as well as dinner.

  What it did was lull us into a false sense of security. With our meals finished, and after having been apart for so long, we laid around lazily in each other’s arms talking and laughing.

  We’d both almost fallen asleep when the door opened, and we were told to stand because it was time to meet the Dragon Lords.

  Fear gripped my chest again. They could kill us if they wanted to, and there wouldn’t be anything we could do to stop them.

  Reid reached out, a reassuring smile on his face, but I could tell he was just as nervous as I was. He put his hand in mine, and together we went to meet the Dragon Lords, not sure if this would be our final walk or not.

  Chapter 7

  We came to a set of large golden doors both in the shape of dragons. On either side of the doors stood two tall life-size statues, one male, the other female. The woman’s skin was the color of violet, her long flowing hair the color of lilac. She wore a purple dress that reached to her ankles and had platinum barrettes throughout her hair. Her features seemed frozen in time.

  The man’s skin was a deep indigo, though his hair was the color of lavender. He wore a charcoal silk pantsuit, and his hands were clenched into fists as he stared out at nothing.

  My eyes went wide, and I turned to Reid, who was taking in the two life-sized figures as well. I hadn’t been warned about them by my clan, but I guessed they hadn’t thought it to be a big deal.

  The guard pushed the doors open, and we were led into a large room, probably bigger than my, Todd, and Vonda’s house combined. The floors were pure ice, the walls made of fire. I wasn’t sure what the ceiling was, as thick red and green gases covered the whole thing, blocking my view.

  No chairs or tables were in the room, and a light mist floated through the air like one would experience on a cold and foggy morning. As we walked further inside, we came to a barrier made of fire, swirling with crystalized ice as well as purple and yellow gases.

  Behind it sat three beings, two male, and one female. Reid's hands stayed tight in mine as we both dropped to our knees and bowed our heads as we’d been instructed to by our clans.

  My heart beat out of my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to raise my eyes and have another look at them. They were magnificent.

  To the left sat a dragon who looked to be about fifty years old, though I knew from several clan members that he’d lived for millennia. The lifespan of a dragon was long, and many of my clan members themselves were thousands of years old, though none could tell me how this would affect Reid and myself.

  The man’s skin was an arctic blue with hints of mulberry and rosewood. His hair was teal, purple, and rose pink. He wore it in long dreadlocks that reached well past his ankles. He sat behind a table, and the sign in front of him was gold-plated and had the name Bosim written on it.

  He wore azure silk pants and a shirt beaded with diamonds and rubies. On his hands were rings enough to fill up each finger including his thumb. His eyes were a deep amethyst purple with hints of fuschia and silver.

  He’d watched our approach with a critical eye in a way that told he was the head dragon in charge here.

  The woman had skin the color of shamrock, and her long olive hair also reached to the floor, though it was full of golden barrettes. The sign in front of her read Shialn.

  She wore a deep green chartreuse gown full of emeralds and pearls. Her face had been stern when we’d walked up and had given me the impression of a schoolmistress who ruled her halls with an iron fist and sharp tongue. I’d shivered a bit when she’d looked at me.

  The last dragon had skin the color of ginger and his long yam colored hair also reached to the floor. He wore a silk robe that was covered in amber jewels of all shapes and sizes. According to the sign in front of him, his name was Mequen.

  His eyes held knowledge, and he seemed the type to at least listen to your side of the story before passing judgment.

  “Rise,” the one on the left, Bosim said and Reid and I were on our feet immediately, having been told that by our clans as well. The Dragon Lords were to be obeyed without hesitation, failure to do so could bring upon your death and great disgrace to your clan.

  Bosim was the first to speak. His eyes gave an inquisitive look at our clasped hands, and then he turned to me. “Do you think it was purely coincidence that a dragon porter landed in the hands of one who holds dragon powers?”

  I swallowed hard, not knowing what to make of the question. Brad and Melinda had stolen the porter from Kyla. They hadn’t even realized it to be a dragon porter at the time, so it had to be a coincidence, right?

  I bowed my head, as I’d been instructed to by my clan and his loud thunderous voice roared through the room shaking me to my bones and leaving me hoping I hadn’t already messed up.

  “I want to see the eyes of that which has not existed for millennia. Raise your head, dragon born, when you talk to me.”

  My head snapped up, and I wanted to shoot Reid a look but dared not turn my eyes away from Bosim. ‘That which has not existed for millennia?’ My heart sped up and I knew I’d find out the answer to that soon.
r />   “You feel the beast inside you clawing to get free? You must control the dragon, but also know when it’s best to let it rise.”

  I took that in without comment. After talking with Linton and the others, I realized that it was in fact my dragon half clambering to come to the surface every time I fought. The beast reveled in the battle, and the more I gave it the more it seemed to want.

  Bosim watched me work through that, then asked the same question he had a second ago. “Do you think it was purely a coincidence that a dragon porter landed in the hands of one who holds dragon powers?”

  My palms were filled with moisture, and I felt as if my very bones were on fire. Not sure how to answer his question, I threw it back to him, something I’d first learned when I’d become a private detective. “I would not dare to disgrace you with a wrong answer. I know nothing, and defer to your knowledge and experience.”

  Reid gave my hand a tight squeeze, and I hoped that meant that he approved of my answer.

  Bosim looked at me in a way that said he knew I was placating him, but he’d take the compliment anyway. “Your existence has been prophesied for thousands of years. What went wrong, will one day be made right.” Then he looked at me, blueish purple eyes glowing as if I held the future of him and his people in the palm of my hand.

  That sounded like a lot of responsibility and to be honest, it scared the crap out of me.

  “Dragons only mate with those of their clans, yet the prophesied one will be of ice, and her mate will be born of poison.” He looked at Reid, while my mind swirled with possibilities of what this all meant.

  He kept using the words prophesied, but I had no clue what it meant or what I was supposed to do. Also, what did he mean by mate? I’d witness a few mating ceremonies while on Cyphen, and I was sure that Reid and I had never done any of the things mated dragons had to.

  “She thinks she knows our traditions better than we do,” Shialn said, and there was a tsk in her voice that said I should know better.